There are images, assumptions, and generalizations, both good and bad, about regions throughout the United States. Take a look at some stereotypes that you hold and write them down in the spaces below.
REGION + – CONSEQUENCES
Pacific
Northwest
West Coast
American
West
Midwest
Northeast
Southeast
Mid-Atlantic
Southwest

Suggestions for Using “Stereotypes by Geographic Region”
Objectives:
 Explore the concept of stereotypes
 Show in a non-threatening way now deeply embedded they are
 Understand negative impact of stereotyping
Intended Audience:
 Any employee in a diversity training class. This activity works as well for executives as it does for front line employees
Time: 30–45 Minutes
Materials:
 Stereotypes by Geographic Region worksheet
 Easel, flipchart, markers, tape
Processing the Activity:
 The facilitator begins with a basic lecture and discussion about the definition and rationale human beings have for stereotyping. Part of the discussion is the concept of second-hand smoke and how osmotically stereotypes become a part of who we are and how we see the world. The facilitator then suggests that we try a little experiment to see what our collective pictures look like around something where most of us have mental pictures of the geographic differences in the United States .
 Distribute the worksheet entitled Stereotypes by Geographic
Region.
 Have each person fill out his or her worksheet in the +, –, and consequence column.
 Count people off into small groups and have them discuss their responses. It is very effective to blow the worksheet up into 18” x 24” size charts. If you tape them on the wall, participants can record their collective data.
 After the group discussion is complete, process the questions as a whole group. You can have a member of each group report out some data to the large group to get the discussion going.
Questions for Discussion:
 What stereotypes generated the most energy?
 Where were the collective perceptions nearly unanimous?
What were these based on?
 Where did you have divergence of perceptions? What were these based on?
 Consider some of the positive and negative stereotypes.
What are the consequences of those pictures?

 Where w ere your strong perceptions arrived at with no personal experience? Where do these stereotypes come from?
 What application does this exercise have to life in your organization?
 How can we get people to be less limited in their thinking?
Caveats, Considerations, and Variations:
 You can divide people up in any number of ways. Depending on the size of the group, you might put blank charts on the wall for each region and have people mill around the room with markers while they write their data.